BLOG 13; Filming Reflection
- 胤哲 张
- Apr 14, 2023
- 5 min read
The filming took place later than our expectations due to various reasons such as the previous Covid restrictions so we had to push it back. It's completed over the course of three days that are February 19th, 25th, and March 22nd, and three locations that are at Bobby's apartment, a park near Bobby's apartment, and my garage.
What happened on each day:
1st day of filming-Me and my team have decided to meet up at Bobby's Apartment on February 19th's afternoon to take a look at the set and the park close to it, and decides about the initial opportunities for shot angles and scenes in the park according to our storyboard.
2nd day of filming-Me and my team have visited Bobby's apartment again the next weekend with a much clearer idea and plan as to where and how to shoot our music video. And this is the day that we've done the majority of the filming inside the apartment and outside in the park. A funny incident occurred when we were shooting in the park, as we were stopped by the guards with a reason being 'not allowed to shoot with a professional camera as the footage can be used commercially'. Well, after a few minutes of communication and a compromise, they've allowed us to film after signing an agreement contract. After all, we feel very fortunate that this didn't interrupt or made an impact to our filming.
3rd day of filming-Me and my team have met up at my garage to shoot the final scenes and some b-roll with the sport car, and after this is when we've completed all the filming and start doing the editing and after effects.
Describe the experience; did it go like you thought?
Overall, as the filming guy, I do really enjoy the filming experience. With our planning ahead, I initially thought that we can complete our filming in a single day at a single location, which would lead us to two days of filming. However, after we've checked out Bobby's apartment with the un-expected layout and the park near it, we've spent the first afternoon thinking about adjusting the shots to make our music video better-quality and more continuous.
How important was your planning as a way to ensure a successful shoot?
Although Arthur's plan and storyboard was pretty amazing at first, we still had to adjust certain shot angles and lengths after we've seen and discussed about the set-up and lighting of the locations in-person. And this is the main reason why we've visited Bobby's apartment for the second time and used that opportunity to do the majority of filming in.
How long did the filming take? Is this what you had anticipated?
The entirety of the actual filming process took us around 6 hours, with 3 hours in Bobby's apartment, 2 hours in the park near it, and 2 hours in my garage. Although the planning at location took longer than my expectations, the filming process is over-all efficient in my opinion that on average we don't need more than 5 takes for each of the shots. This is especially hard to achieve as our music video is of a hip-hop and rap genre, and it's impressive because our song involves more-than-usual hardcore lip-syncs that is required to memorize by the actors. Credit to Arthur and Bobby who did a good job here.
How did you work as a group? Who did What? And what have you contributed?
Among planning, Arthur is the director/actor/playwright who conducted the filming process and did the story board, Dima is the editor focusing on the complex after effects bringing a lot of interest and intension to our music video, Bobby is the actor, and I was the camera man filming/recording everything and the editor of our group who focuses on producing the initial rough-cuts that gives the director a better understanding of what to shoot next.
What worked well in filming?
After plenty of discussions and thinking, my group all have a great expectation to what will be shot prior to filming. This had allowed the filming process to be extra smooth, everyone were working well together, and there isn't the need to re-shoot any clips for too many times.
What footage did I use? Why did I like these shots/scenes?
These above three shots are all of great quality in terms of composition, color, and lighting. And these are the basic standards that has to pass in-order for a clip to go into my cut of our music video.
Did you stick to your storyboard and script?
Our script and storyboard is based on and evolves around the song itself, so that for most of the shots it have a clear link and connotations with the meanings derived from the lyrics. Therefore, major changes in shots is not needed at all. However, after we've seen the shooting locations like Bobby's apartment and the park in-person, some small changes in composition and shot angles was made in order to fit the actual environment and lighting condition better.
What could have been better and any shots I didn't like
Personally speaking, I think the shots of Bobby&Arthur sitting in the sport car could have been done better. Composition wise it's fine, but for the quality of the footage wise, the noise level is just too hight due to the dark lighting condition in the underground garage. This is because to use our own lights in a car would create weird reflections on the window, over exposure, and extremely hight contrasts which makes the actor's face and interior of the car hard to see. So for future improvements, we may either take the car outside where it's a lot brighter for a clearer quality, or take the car to a filming studio where professional lightings are set up to shoot films in the car that manipulates a dark condition which is what we wanted, while still providing enough luminance for clear footages.
Were there any last minute changes? Why did you have to change your plan?
There wasn't any last minute changes before filming, but certainly there was changes to the original storyboard like adjusting certain shot angles and composition after we've seen and discussed about the set-up and lighting of the locations in-person, to fit the actual environment better and produce higher-quality footages. This is the main reason why we've visited Bobby's apartment for the second time and used that opportunity to do the majority of filming in.
An overview to filming
We've followed our plan, script, and storyboard for the majority of time, and the filming process is almost all very smooth and controlled. We didn't waste a lot of time, and most of the shots are done to a good standard without too much retakes (out of my expectation). To conclude, overall my group is happy about the filming, and I think it was a success.
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